Long Island Man Planned to Set Off Homemade Bombs in Manhattan, Authorities Say
Michael Gann, 55, of Inwood, N.Y., made the bombs last month with chemicals he bought on the internet, and then brought them to Manhattan, the authorities said. He stored some on the rooftops of adjoining residential buildings in SoHo and threw one onto the subway tracks on the Williamsburg Bridge, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
No one was harmed before the man was arrested last month, the authorities said. One of the improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.s, contained about an ounce of explosive powder, which the authorities said was about 600 times the legal limit for consumer fireworks.
Mr. Gann put 'countless lives at risk,' Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
A grand jury indicted Mr. Gann on three counts: attempted destruction of property by means of explosives; transportation of explosive materials; and unlawful possession of destructive devices. If convicted on all counts with consecutive sentences, he could face a maximum of 40 years in prison, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Mr. Gann's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment made early Wednesday, outside business hours.
Mr. Gann ordered the explosive chemicals online in late May, along with more than 200 cardboard tubes and more than 50 feet of fuses, according to the indictment.
Around that time, the authorities said Mr. Gann conducted internet searches related to explosives and firearms, including the production of flash powder and whether he would pass a background check.
In early June, according to the indictment, Mr. Gann received the items he had ordered and made at least seven I.E.D.s, storing at least five on rooftops in SoHo.
Law enforcement officers arrested him 'on or about' June 5 near those apartment buildings, and found a seventh bomb on him. The authorities said that he lied to officers, saying he had disposed of his explosives and supplies in a dumpster.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'
CBS News
13 minutes ago
- CBS News
Community demands release of Maryland pastor who was arrested by ICE
A community in Easton, Maryland, is demanding the release of a pastor who was arrested earlier this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, accused of overstaying his visa by 25 years. As of Saturday, 54-year-old Daniel Fuentes Espinal was in custody at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, records show. Fuentes Espinal, a church pastor and construction worker, has lived in the U.S. since 2001. Those close to the family told WJZ that he is a father of three with no criminal record. In a statement to WJZ, ICE said he entered the country at the time legally on a six-month visa, but that it expired. "It's devastated our community," family friend Len Foxwell said. "It's shocked our community." Foxwell told WJZ that Fuentes Espinal was arrested as he was on his way to his day job on July 21. "Literally had been out that morning to pick up building supplies and was on his way to a job site when he got pulled over," Foxwell said. "He was arrested on site." Fuentes Espinal is a pastor at Iglesia Del Nazareno Jesus Te Amam in Easton. The family has been working for years to secure a Green Card for him, Foxwell said. After his arrest, Fuentes Espinal was taken to a detention center in Salisbury, transferred to Baltimore then to the Winn Correctional Facility in Louisiana. "He spent three days at a detention center in Baltimore, sleeping on a cold bench with barely enough food to eat," Foxwell said. "Now, he's in Louisiana and heaven only knows what's happening there." Fuentes Espinal is now awaiting a bond hearing in this case. Members of the Easton community rallied Friday to demand that Fuentes Espinal be released. A spokesperson for Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland said he is aware of the situation involving Fuentes Espinal, but doesn't have "specifics" of the case. "Congressman Harris believes due process within the immigration enforcement system is important and that facts should be clear before making any further public comment," the statement said. Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said his team is working with Fuentes Espinal's family. He also criticized the Trump administration, saying it is "snatching up anyone they can find as they pursue their mass deportation agenda." Van Hollen has been extremely vocal about his opposition to the Trump administration's immigration effort, especially in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from Maryland and sent to a prison in El Salvador in March. Van Hollen traveled to the country to check on Abrego Garcia's well-being and called for him to receive a fair immigration hearing. Abrego Garcia was later returned to the U.S. to face federal human smuggling charges in a case that continues to play out in court.
CBS News
15 minutes ago
- CBS News
Four people injured in overnight shooting in downtown Denver
The Denver Police Department is investigating after four people were injured, one critically, in a shooting downtown. Around 12:20 a.m., police were called to the scene on 20th Street and Market Street. Authorities said they initially found three victims who suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the shooting. Later, police announced that they had located a fourth victim, who is reportedly in critical condition. DPD stated that they're working to develop suspect information and encouraged anyone with information on the shooting to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-7867 or through their website.
